Prophets :: essays research papers

The ProphetsThe Prophets, religious sages and charismatic figures, who were perceived as endowed with a divine gift of revelation, preached during the period of the monarchy until a century after(prenominal) the remnant of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.). Whether as advisers to kings on matters of religion, ethics and politics, or as their critics, at a lower place the primacy of the relationship between the individual and God, the prophets were guided by the need for judge and issued powerful commentaries on the morality of Jewish national life. Their revelatory experiences were put down in books of inspired prose and poetry, many of which were incorporated into the Bible.The enduring, universal appeal of the prophets derives from their surround for a fundamental consideration of human values. Words such as those of Isaiah (117) -- "Be good, devote yourselves to justice aid the wronged, uphold the rights of the orphan preserve the cause of the widow" -- continue to nourish hu manitys pursuit of social justice.The main(a) job of a prophet was to arouse the people and the government to self-mortification and observance. The traditional view is that prophecy was removed from the world after the remainder of the First temple. Those prophets who are mentioned after that were alive at the time of the destruction. several(prenominal) explanations are offered for why prophets no longer exist1. The fact that the Jews did non heed the calls to repentance of the prophets showed that they were non worthy. When most of the Jews remained in exile after Ezra returned, they showed that they were still not worthy of that level of holiness. The second temple did not realize the level of kedushah holiness of the first Temple even from the beginning.2. This was actually a sign of Gds mercy. Had the Jews had a prophet and continued to disobey (as was probable found on the behavior of the following centuries) even after the punishment of the exile, they would have mer ited complete destruction. Now they could say that had a prophet shape up they would have obeyed and thus mitigate the punishment (though some consider the flow exile (i.e., the diaspora) to be harsh enough).3. After the destruction of the first Temple the sages prayed for the removal of the "Evil Inclination" of idolatry.